Ad Saleshttp://www.adweek.com/taxonomy/term/4441/all
enNBC Has Officially Sold All of Its $4.5 Million Super Bowl Spotshttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/nbc-has-officially-sold-all-its-45-million-super-bowl-spots-162609
Sam Thielman<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/football-field-hed-2015.jpg"> <p>
It&#39;s official, and not a moment too soon: NBC has sold every single spot in the Super Bowl, although some pre-game spots are still up for grabs, according to Seth Winter, evp of ad sales for NBCUniversal&#39;s news and sports groups. The timing isn&#39;t typical, by the way&mdash;Fox <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/fox-sells-out-super-bowl-154292" target="_blank">sold out the game in December</a> last year.</p>
<p>
But NBC was driving a hard bargain: The network asked for $4.5 million a pop this year, and it was also dealing with a marketplace where several key players, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why-car-advertisers-are-staying-super-bowl-sideline-162361" target="_blank">notably automakers</a>, are simply sitting this one out. Rumor has it, too, that NBC asked for an additional investment from advertisers coming into the Super Bowl for the first time&mdash;a placement of additional millions with the company&#39;s large suite of cable networks.</p>
<p>
At any rate, the network is publicly very happy with the outcome. &quot;We came through with flying colors,&quot; Winter said to reporters by conference call today, though he admitted that it &quot;hadn&#39;t been the easiest exercise&quot; in his career.</p>
<p>
And ultimately, the network is using some of the airtime to play up its own shows across that same portfolio, so there are multiple ways to win here. One of the promo spots in the Big Game<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/one-nbcs-precious-super-bowl-ad-spots-will-promotes-es-royals-162588" target="_blank"> is going to fashion-and-fame network E!</a> for its new show The Royals.</p>
Television2015 Super BowlAd SalesE!footballNbcSam ThielmanSeth WinterSuper BowlWed, 28 Jan 2015 22:40:57 +0000162609 at http://www.adweek.comFacebook Just Shared Insane Q4 Mobile Numbers and Ad Saleshttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-just-shared-some-insane-q4-mobile-numbers-and-ad-sales-162608
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/mark-zuckerberg-owning-hed-2014.jpeg"> <p>
Facebook&#39;s mobile sales continue to skyrocket, now accounting for 69 percent of its advertising business, <a href="http://investor.fb.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=893395" target="_blank">according to results it shared today.</a></p>
<p>
During the 2014 fourth quarter, Facebook did $3.6 billion in total ad sales, which was a 53 percent year over year increase. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based tech giant obviously cashed in with holiday marketers, who were looking to rack up retail revenues with social News Feed ads.</p>
<p>
The <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/big-brands-are-driving-facebook-and-twitters-mobile-ad-explosion-159209" target="_blank">booming sales</a> were accompanied by a rising global user base that now sits at nearly 1.4 billion monthly active users, up 13 percent year over year. In all, Facebook took in about $12.5 billion in revenue in 2014, a 58 percent increase.</p>
<p>
Facebook also confirmed that <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-debates-whether-hit-autoplay-videos-compete-facebook-161933" target="_blank">video views hit 3 billion daily,</a>&nbsp;tripling since September. &quot;Video is a format that marketers have used for a long time to build an emotional connection to brands,&quot; Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook&#39;s COO, said during a call with analysts today.</p>
<p>
Facebook is going after digital video ad dollars just like rivals Google, Twitter, Snapchat and others. To attract brands, all platforms are unveiling new video capabilities, and Facebook led the way last year with autoplay for users and brands.</p>
<p>
Facebook credited the explosion in video advertising to users who are posting more videos, too. Without user interest in the format, the ads would be jarring in the News Feed, Sandberg said.</p>
<p>
The quarterly numbers show a Facebook that has become a dominant player in the digital ad industry, only behind Google. In fact, eMarketer has predicted Facebook would account for <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-will-get-10-us-digital-ad-spending-2014-160222" target="_blank">10 percent of all digital ad sales</a> this year.</p>
<p>
Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers, which tracks brands on social media, said Facebook&#39;s performance was all the more impressive because it hasn&#39;t even heavily pushed ads to Instagram, which also has 300 million users.</p>
<p>
&quot;We&#39;re talking about a company that 24 months ago did $1 billion in revenue and now does $4 billion,&quot; Rezab said. &quot;That&#39;s impressive.&quot;</p>
<p>
Ad industry watchers have said that&mdash;in the first part of this year&mdash;budgets continue to accelerate aggressively in Facebook&#39;s direction. &quot;In some cases, 50 percent of digital ad spend is going to social,&quot; Rezab said.</p>
<p>
Here&#39;s a look at other key numbers from Facebook&#39;s fourth-quarter and full-year report:</p>
<ul>
<li>
At 69 percent of its ad sales, mobile revenue topped $2.5 billion last quarter. Mobile accounted for 66 percent of the tech company&#39;s ad sales <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/7-big-stats-facebooks-q3-earnings-report-161060" target="_blank">during Q3 2014</a>.</li>
<li>
Its mobile app alone has 745 million daily users, up 34 percent year over year.</li>
<li>
Facebook&#39;s messenger app has 526 million monthly users.&nbsp;</li>
<li>
Monthly mobile users rose 26 percent to 1.2 billion in 2014, which means almost all Facebook users are at least partially mobile.</li>
<li>
In total, Facebook attracts 1.4 billion monthly users on desktop alone, 890 million of who are daily users.</li>
<li>
Profits last year hit $2.9 billion, almost double the previous year&#39;s profits.</li>
</ul>
TechnologyAd Salesdaily active usersearnings reportFacebookFacebookGarett Sloanefacebook messengerfourth quarterMobilemonthly active usersQ4 earningsreveSocialWed, 28 Jan 2015 22:21:31 +0000162608 at http://www.adweek.com7 Big Stats From Facebook's Q3 Earnings Reporthttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/7-big-stats-facebooks-q3-earnings-report-161060
Christopher Heine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/zuckerberg-hed-2014_1.jpg"> <p>
Facebook&#39;s advertising sales jumped 64 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period year, as the company <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebooks-q2-ad-revenue-was-nearly-27-billion-159071" target="_blank">maintained momentum</a> from earnings reports earlier this year.</p>
<p>
Here are 6 other important stats revealed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his team late this afternoon:</p>
<ol>
<li>
Facebook generated $2.96 billion in ad sales during Q3, up from Q2&#39;s $2.68 billion. Overall revenue totaled $3.2 billion, a 59 percent lift from Q3 2013.</li>
<li>
Mobile <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/big-brands-are-driving-facebook-and-twitters-mobile-ad-explosion-159209" target="_blank">continues to drive Facebook&#39;s growth</a>, representing roughly 66 percent of ad revenue for Q3. Comparatively, mobile accounted for 49 percent of ad sales during 2013&#39;s third quarter.</li>
<li>
Daily active users (DAUs) averaged 864 million in September, a 19 percent jump from the same month last year.</li>
<li>
Mobile averaged 703 million DAUs during last month, a year-over-year increase of 39 percent.</li>
<li>
Cross-platform monthly active users (MAUs) in September totaled 1.35 billion, a 14 percent hike.</li>
<li>
Mobile MAUs came in at roughly 1.1 billion last month, which represented a 29 percent gain.</li>
</ol>
TechnologyAd Salesdaily active usersearnings reportFacebookFacebookChristopher HeineMobilemobile adsQ3 Earningsrevenuethird quarterTue, 28 Oct 2014 21:08:36 +0000161060 at http://www.adweek.comFamily Circle Redesign Puts Focus on Nontraditional Familieshttp://www.adweek.com/news/press/family-circle-redesign-puts-focus-nontraditional-families-159610
Emma Bazilian<p>
Meredith&rsquo;s Family Circle is getting a facelift with its September issue. But the redesign, introduced earlier this month, isn&rsquo;t just cosmetic&mdash;the magazine is also updating its content in an effort to better address its readers&rsquo; lives in 2014.</p>
<div class="news-article-image" style="float: right;margin: 15px 0px 15px 15px;">
<img class="fancyzoom" data-fancybox-src="/files/imagecache/node-detail/family-meals-01-2014.jpg" src="/files/imagecache/test-width/family-meals-01-2014.jpg" /></div>
<p>
&ldquo;Design trends move so quickly, so to avoid falling behind, we do an internal refresh every couple of years,&rdquo; said vp, editor-in-chief Linda Fears. This time, the magazine brought in outside help in the form of former Time Inc. CMO Grant Schneider, who helped craft a new mission statement. &ldquo;We wanted to convey that the magazine isn&rsquo;t about the drudgery of being a mom and to help moms enjoy these days because they won&rsquo;t last forever,&rdquo; Fears said.</p>
<p>
To avoid any potential drudgery, Fears reorganized the magazine&rsquo;s front of book with a heavier emphasis on beauty and style content&mdash;&ldquo;it&rsquo;s a section that&rsquo;s just for her,&rdquo; Fears explained. (An increase in beauty and fashion has been a recent trend in the women&#39;s service category as it seeks to appeal to younger readers.) Next month, Family Circle will debut its first-ever Beauty Awards.</p>
<p>
A new &ldquo;Modern Life&rdquo; feature, which highlights nontraditional families, marks perhaps the biggest leap forward for the magazine&rsquo;s content. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we were doing the best job of addressing all the different types of families,&rdquo; admitted Fears. &ldquo;We thought shows like Modern Family were actually doing a better job.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
September&rsquo;s &ldquo;Modern Life&rdquo; focuses on a widower raising his kids as a single dad. Future issues will focus on gay parents, adoptive parents and multi-religious families. &ldquo;We may get a few letters, but this is the way Americans live,&rdquo; said Fears. &ldquo;For us to be as widely inclusive as possible, we have to reflect real families.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Other new sections include the social media-centric &ldquo;Social Circle,&rdquo; the &ldquo;Talking Points&rdquo; advice column, and &ldquo;Well-Being,&rdquo; covering physical and mental health issues.</p>
<p>
One thing that won&rsquo;t get much tweaking is the magazine&rsquo;s cover strategy: All food, all the time. Fears said the magazine has tested non-food covers in the past, but none has ever sold as well&mdash;partly due to the fact that most of the magazine&rsquo;s newsstand sales are at supermarkets, where food photos are likelier to grab a shopper&rsquo;s eye. (Despite a 5 percent drop in single-copy sales in the first half of 2014, per the Alliance for Audited Media, Family Circle remains the fifth-largest U.S. title in terms of newsstand circulation.)</p>
<p>
On the business side, like much of the women&rsquo;s category, the magazine has had a weak 2014 (down 18 percent in ad pages through September versus the previous year, per Media Industry Newsletter), but vp, publisher Lee Slattery expects the redesign to help pick up new advertising, especially in the beauty, home and financial services. New advertisers in the September issue include Hanover Direct (owner of The Company Store and Scandia Home), Metropolitan Life Insurance, Noven Pharmaceuticals and Newell Rubbermaid. &ldquo;Overall, it hasn&rsquo;t been the best year for advertising, but we&rsquo;re encouraged by the kinds of ads we&rsquo;re getting,&rdquo; said Slattery.</p>
The PressAd SalesFamily CircleMagazinesMeredithwomen's service magazinesEmma BazilianWed, 20 Aug 2014 20:33:34 +0000159610 at http://www.adweek.comTwitter Reveals MoPub's Ad Growthhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/twitter-reveals-mopubs-ad-growth-153325
Garett Sloane<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/twitter-stock-cert-hed-2013.jpg"> <p>
Twitter just disclosed how much money MoPub makes. The messaging platform had to reveal the mobile exchange&#39;s finances as part of its disclosure to potential investors before it becomes a publicly traded company.</p>
<p>
In <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513406804/d564001ds1a.htm#toc" target="_blank">an S-1 amendment</a>, Twitter revealed that MoPub generated $6.5 million in revenue in the first half of the year. MoPub makes its money from transaction fees on its ad platform. The revenue line is on pace to at least quadruple this year, but the company has not been profitable so far.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/twitter-acquires-mobile-ad-exchange-mopub-152313" target="_blank">Twitter agreed to buy MoPub</a> in September in exchange for almost 15 million shares that likely will be worth more than $300 million. MoPub makes transaction fees from its mobile ad exchange.</p>
<p>
Twitter is set to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101065745" target="_blank">debut on Wall Street in mid-November</a>. The company has been updating its public papers periodically, providing fresh insight into its finances.</p>
<p>
Twitter already revealed that it has generated $422.2 million in revenue this year.</p>
<p>
It also revealed today that it secured a $1 billion loan from some of the big banks, such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, that are helping conduct the initial public offering.&nbsp;</p>
Technologyacquisitionsad exchangeAd ExchangesAd SalesAd sales revenueGarett SloaneIPOMobileMobilemobile ad networksmobile adsMobile advertisingMoPubrevenuerevenue growthshare priceSocialTwitterTwitter IPOTue, 22 Oct 2013 23:35:19 +0000153325 at http://www.adweek.comNovember Rain: TV’s Big Surgehttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/november-rain-tv-s-big-surge-145568
Anthony Crupi<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-obama-confetti-hed-2012.jpg"> <p>
The morning after Barack Obama secured his second term as the 44th president of the United States, two significant events occurred that left TV ad sales executives breathing a little easier. For one, the last of the New York media agencies that had been shuttered in the <a href="/node/144904">wake of Hurricane Sandy</a> were back under full steam <a href="/node/145001">after a week of paralysis</a>. And perhaps just as importantly, clients that had been waiting out the election results once again began spending a good deal of their fourth-quarter budgets on national TV inventory.</p>
<p>
If <a href="/node/144967">Mitt Romney</a> rather understandably woke up in a lousy mood on Nov. 7, network sales execs were clicking their heels, no matter their political leanings. &ldquo;There was a palpable increase in activity literally the day after the election returns came in,&rdquo; said one sales boss whose portfolio encompasses broadcast and cable networks. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost as if the clients had been sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see if we were going to get dragged into the legal morass that went down in 2000.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Stalled client spending in the weeks leading up to the election had little to do with partisan politics&mdash;any financial guru with a functioning cerebral cortex will tell you the economy has very little to do with the machinations of government, and that the president has precious little control over employment, fuel prices, etc.&mdash;and more to do with a willful suspension of disbelief.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a sense that a lot of people are just assuming that we&rsquo;re not going to go sailing over the fiscal cliff like Thelma and Louise,&rdquo; said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s as if we&rsquo;re willing ourselves into a sense of optimism even though the fundamental realities of the political landscape are essentially the same as they were before.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Of course, there have been some positive trends to divine from the economic tea leaves, even if Washington is doing a lousy job of communicating them. For example, the gross domestic product is forecast to have risen 2.8 percent from July to September, up from an initial estimate of 2 percent. And the U.S. housing market in October saw demand hit its highest level in 18 months.</p>
<p>
Clients are reacting accordingly, at least with TV outlets with GRPs to sell. &ldquo;The last four weeks we&rsquo;ve written $25 million more than we did in the year-ago period,&rdquo; said Mel Berning, president, ad sales, A+E Television Networks, who added that the automotive and entertainment categories have been particularly robust.</p>
<p>
Berning said Q1 2013 budgets are starting to breathe and calendar-year registrations are coming in a few weeks earlier than he&rsquo;d originally anticipated. Visibility, however, remains limited. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d have to be offering blasting-cap rates for people to start spending second-quarter dollars right now.&rdquo;</p>
Television2012 election2012 Presidential ElectionA+E Television NetworksAd SalesBarack ObamaAnthony CrupiMagazine ContentMitt RomenyNetworksPoliticsMon, 03 Dec 2012 05:02:58 +0000145568 at http://www.adweek.comNew Yahoo COO to Be Based in New Yorkhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/new-yahoo-coo-be-based-new-york-144705
Tim Peterson<p>
Yahoo&rsquo;s new chief operating officer Henrique de Castro isn&rsquo;t slated to start until the middle of next month, <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20121017/mayer-tells-ad-sales-staff-that-new-coo-de-castro-will-start-mid-november/" target="_blank">according to All Things D</a>, but when he does, he won&rsquo;t be working alongside CEO Marissa Mayer at the company&rsquo;s Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters. De Castro will be based at Yahoo&rsquo;s New York offices, according to a source briefed by Yahoo.</p>
<p>
Yahoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent shortly before the company reported its third-quarter earnings on Monday afternoon.</p>
<p>
That a company&rsquo;s CEO and COO would work on opposite sides of the country may seem odd, but de Castro will not be a typical COO. As All Things D has <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20121017/mayer-tells-ad-sales-staff-that-new-coo-de-castro-will-start-mid-november/" target="_blank">pointed out</a>, the former Google sales exec will oversee sales at Yahoo in addition to running day-to-day operations. Therefore, placing de Castro amid the buyers along Madison Avenue would be a strategic move to maintain a cohesive sales organization and strategy as well as rekindle ties with an advertising community that&rsquo;s felt neglected of late. It would also get de Castro in front of media buyers not as familiar with him as they were with <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-lose-revenue-head-michael-barrett-144512" target="_blank">outgoing sales chief Michael Barrett</a>.</p>
<p>
While marketers eagerly anticipated Mayer&rsquo;s plans for Yahoo<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/mayers-product-conundrum-142021" target="_blank"> in July</a>, the company&rsquo;s sales teams have been fairly quiet, particularly within the past month as advertisers plan their budgets for next year, according to multiple media buyers.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It feels like the Yahoo rep community has hunkered down a little bit. They&rsquo;re not as forthcoming about outlining their vision for 2013 as they were at this time last year for 2012,&rdquo; said Chris O&rsquo;Brien, managing director of digital at Mindshare in Chicago&mdash;and one of the agency&rsquo;s lead liaisons for Yahoo. Of course, O&rsquo;Brien noted, that likely has much to do with the fact that Mayer herself has been quiet about communicating her strategy to employees.</p>
<p>
But quiet does not equate to silence. O&rsquo;Brien and others said Yahoo has discussed partnership opportunities around 2013 tent-pole events, such as the Super Bowl and Academy Awards. &ldquo;They always come up with unique partnership opportunities and haven&rsquo;t slowed down on that front at all,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Brien said.</p>
TechnologyAd SalesGoogleHenrique de CastroMarissa MayerMedia PlanningTim PetersonYahooMon, 22 Oct 2012 20:39:06 +0000144705 at http://www.adweek.comYahoo to Lose Revenue Head Michael Barretthttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-lose-revenue-head-michael-barrett-144512
Tim Peterson<p>
Ever since Marissa Mayer was announced as Yahoo&rsquo;s new CEO <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/digital-industry-cheers-yahoo-names-google-exec-marissa-mayer-ceo-141933" target="_blank">in July</a>, questions have turned to the status of chief revenue officer Michael Barrett, whom interim CEO Ross Levinsohn had hired <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-taps-michael-barrett-evp-chief-revenue-officer-141193" target="_blank">less than a month prior</a>. Those questions are on the verge of being answered.</p>
<p>
All Things D reported <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20120921/what-will-marissa-do-yahoo-ceo-zeroes-in-on-search-while-her-ad-team-eyes-tech-upgrade-options/" target="_blank">last month</a> and&nbsp;<a href="http://allthingsd.com/20121015/yahoo-confirms-hiring-of-googles-de-castro-as-coo-like-i-said/" target="_blank">again on Monday</a> that Barrett wasn&rsquo;t looking to kick around for long. Then on Tuesday, multiple reports said&nbsp;that the only hold-up was negotiating an exit package. A source confirmed to Adweek late Tuesday that the reports are true. Yahoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>
While Barrett&rsquo;s departure has been forecast since Levinsohn lost out on the permanent chief executive gig, he said as recently as last month that he planned to remain with Yahoo. But last month, even Barrett may not have been able to foresee Mayer&rsquo;s recruitment of Google sales exec Henrique de Castro to join Yahoo as its chief operating officer. The company announced that appointment <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-pulls-another-google-sales-exec-c-suite-144484" target="_blank">on Monday</a>, again fueling speculation about Barrett&rsquo;s role since sales now fall under de Castro&#39;s purview.</p>
<p>
Mayer, Barrett and de Castro may all be able to name Google as a previous employer, but the connection more or less ends there. Whereas Mayer was hired in 1999 as Google&rsquo;s first female engineer and de Castro has been with the company since 2006, Barrett only joined this past January and only then as the result of Google&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/google-s-admeld-deal-gets-green-light-136913" target="_blank">acquisition</a> last year of supply-side platform Admeld, which Barrett led as CEO. And despite the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-taps-michael-barrett-evp-chief-revenue-officer-141193" target="_blank">warm welcome</a> Barrett&rsquo;s hire elicited from media buyers, in the Mayer era he stood out as a c-suite executive she didn&#39;t hire. In August, Mayer <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/awkward-yahoo-ceo-marissa-mayer-hired-a-new-cmo-while-the-current-cmo-was-on-vacation-2012-8" target="_blank">replaced CMO Mollie Spillman</a> and <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20120925/yahoos-mayer-finally-parts-ways-with-cfo-tim-morse/" target="_blank">then CFO Tim Morse</a> in September.</p>
TechnologyAd SalesAdMeldGoogleMarissa MayerOnline advertisingTim PetersonYahooWed, 17 Oct 2012 10:41:35 +0000144512 at http://www.adweek.comNBCU Consolidates Ad Sales Under Yaccarinohttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/nbcu-consolidates-ad-sales-under-yaccarino-143835
Anthony Crupi<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/linda-yaccarino-hed-2012.jpg"> <p>
Less than a year after being tapped to lead NBCUniversal&rsquo;s cable and digital ad sales efforts, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/10-most-powerful-women-television-131635?page=2" target="_blank">Linda Yaccarino</a> is assuming oversight of the company&rsquo;s broadcast sales business.</p>
<p>
In her new role as president of advertising sales for NBCUniversal, Yaccarino will report directly to CEO Steve Burke. She previously answered to two executives: NBCU Cable Entertainment/Cable Studios chair Bonnie Hammer and NBCU Entertainment and Digital Networks/Integrated Media chair Lauren Zalaznick.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Linda is an outstanding executive with the proven ability to maximize the value of a portfolio of assets in a complex marketplace,&rdquo; Burke said, by way of announcing the promotion. &ldquo;I am pleased to have her leading the sales strategy for our company, offering advertisers innovative opportunities to partner with the best brands in the business.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
With her promotion, Yaccarino adds the NBC flagship&rsquo;s $4 billion sales portfolio to a roster of cable networks that includes the top-rated USA Network and demo-friendly outlets such as Bravo, E! and Syfy.</p>
<p>
Consolidating all activity under a single executive streamlines NBCU&rsquo;s overall sales operations, allowing for a more efficient cross-network and cross-platform transactional environment. The unilateral structure effectively reverses the bifurcated broadcast/cable template established by Comcast in the days leading up to its January 2011 acquisition of NBCU.</p>
<p>
Expected to stay on under the new hierarchy is 22-year NBCU vet Marianne Gambelli, president of NBC broadcast sales. The division includes news and sports. Effective immediately, Gambelli will report to Yaccarino.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/donna-speciale-jumps-turner-137352" target="_blank">Yaccarino joined NBCU from Turner</a> in October 2011.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I joined NBCUniversal because of my belief in the incredible power of this portfolio and to work with the strongest sales team in the business and I&rsquo;m proud of what we&rsquo;ve been able to accomplish,&rdquo; Yaccarino said. &ldquo;As a unified sales team, our goal is to collaboratively develop the most creative solutions to move our clients&rsquo; businesses forward.&rdquo;</p>
TelevisionAd SalesBonnie HammerBroadcastCableComcastAnthony CrupiLinda YaccarinoMarianne GambelliNbcNBCUNBCU CableNBCUniversalNetworksSteve BurkeTurnerWed, 19 Sep 2012 17:12:47 +0000143835 at http://www.adweek.comYahoo Defector Marc Grabowski Joins Facebook Developerhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yahoo-defector-marc-grabowski-joins-facebook-developer-143020
Christopher Heine<p>
Marc Grabowski, who left Yahoo shortly after the Internet company brought Google vet Marissa Mayer on as CEO, is the new COO at Nanigans, a Facebook advertising software firm with offices in Boston and San Francisco. Grabowski was a key Yahoo salesmen for nine years with the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company&mdash;most recently vp of media sales&mdash;before departing along with top exec <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/after-losing-ceo-post-levinsohn-leaves-yahoo-142319" target="_blank">Ross Levinsohn</a> on July 30.</p>
<p>
While speaking with<em> Adweek</em> this morning, though, Grabowski was adamant that his move had nothing to do with Yahoo naming Mayer chief exec instead of Levinsohn, suggesting he had been in talks with Nanigans well before the decision.</p>
<p>
&quot;I had no intention of leaving Yahoo,&quot; he said. &quot;I hadn&#39;t seen anyone else doing what [Nanigans is] doing in the lifetime value space whether it&#39;s on social or any kind of online media. I made this decision as a proactive move for my career.&quot;</p>
<p>
His new employer offers software to help manage Facebook ad campaigns, servicing clients in gaming and retail niches. Despite what&#39;s been a challenging few <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-decentralizes-mobile-team-strategic-move-142215" target="_blank">post-IPO months</a> for Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook, Grabowski said he thinks brands still want to increase their presence on the social platform. While he&#39;ll be based out of Nanigans&#39; Boston location, the sales vet isn&#39;t wasting any time in investigating the brand&#39;s global options.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;At 2 p.m. today, I&#39;m heading out to London and Barcelona, as Europe is a huge footprint for the company and I think for the space,&quot; Grabowski said. &quot;There&#39;s huge opportunities in the U.S. and Europe right now. The social and mobile spaces are growing.&quot;</p>
<p>
Nanigans announced his hiring this morning. &ldquo;Marc understands all facets of online advertising, from sophisticated optimization techniques to the strategic opportunity that social advertising presents to businesses. We&rsquo;re excited to have an online media veteran like Marc join our team during this time of high growth,&quot; Nanigans CEO Ric Calvillo said in a statement.</p>
<p>
The Grabowski hiring comes one day after Parade Publications poached Yahoo&#39;s svp of North American sales, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/top-yahoo-sales-exec-heads-parade-142998" target="_blank">Wayne Powers</a>, who will become president and group publisher.</p>
TechnologyAd SalesFacebookFacebookMarissa MayerYahooTue, 21 Aug 2012 15:08:49 +0000143020 at http://www.adweek.comUPDATED: Keith Turner to Replace David Lawenda at Univisionhttp://www.adweek.com/news/television/updated-keith-turner-replace-david-lawenda-univision-142813
Sam Thielman<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/keith-turner-hed-2012.jpg"> <p>
President of ad sales David Lawenda is leaving Univision in early September, a memo from Univision CEO Randy Falco to staffers said on Thursday morning. &quot;David Lawenda informed me that he will be leaving the company during the week of Labor Day,&quot; Falco&#39;s email said.</p>
<p>
Lawenda leaves the Spanish-language broadcaster, far and away the market share leader in U.S. Hispanic television, at a crucial time. The company&#39;s upfront presentation this year was a blowout far beyond any years past, and it has pushed to increase CPMs closer to the rates paid to English-language broadcasters.</p>
<p>
Univision appeared to be off to a good start in May. Starcom USA and sister agency Tapestry (which focuses on multicultural sales) inked the first deal of the season with Univision, bringing in dollars from Burger King, Mars/Wrigley and Kellogg. The network is also doing huge ratings numbers. It regularly ranks above at least one of the Big Four broadcasters and <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/univision-tops-english-language-rivals-demo-141794" target="_blank">recently logged</a> a No. 1 spot for the week.</p>
<p>
No reason was given for Lawenda&#39;s departure besides a need &quot;to focus on the next phase of his career,&quot; but Falco said that Lawenda&#39;s decision had been made &quot;a few months ago.&quot; Univision&#39;s upfront commitments will start to come due in the fall, and Falco promised staffers he&#39;d have a replacement for Lawenda by that time.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://corporate.univision.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/FINAL-Press-Release-Q2-2012-1.pdf" target="_blank">Univision&#39;s quarterly earnings report</a> earlier this month included some troubling advertising figures. Ad revenue for the half was off by $26 million for the six months ending June 30. While there&#39;s more interest in the Hispanic market, that interest also means stiffer competition from companies looking to cash in on what appears to be a huge, underserved population.</p>
<p>
Falco promised staff that a replacement for Lawenda would be found as speedily as possible.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>** UPDATE:</strong> &nbsp;Lawenda&#39;s replacement has been named. Keith Turner, most recently svp of media sales and sponsorship at the NFL as of 2009, will take over the New York-based position, reporting to Falco. Turner and his new boss have history. Before his time at the NFL (where he helped to negotiate the return of advertiser Anheuser-Busch), he was at NBC for 22 years where he overlapped with Falco in the Sports division.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Keith has a sterling reputation in the media industry for being an effective and creative sales and marketing executive,&quot; said Falco in a statement emailed to<em> Adweek</em>, &quot;and having spent many years working closely with him at NBC, I can personally attest to his unique talent.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
TelevisionHispanicAd Salesbroadcast TVDavid LawendaHispanicSam ThielmanThu, 16 Aug 2012 14:23:15 +0000142813 at http://www.adweek.comMeet the 'Glamour' Generationhttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/meet-glamour-generation-142565
Lucia Moses<p>
Founded in 1939, <em>Glamour</em> has long seen its mission as empowering women, with uplifting stories, tips and advice.</p>
<p>
But if today&rsquo;s women in their 20s and 30s are more likely to have that box checked already, <em>Glamour</em> still wants to be relevant to them. Like much of traditional media, the magazine is eager to show it&rsquo;s still being read by young people, no matter how much time they may be spending with <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/millennial-moms-dont-let-sex-get-way-smartphone-use-140183">mobile devices and social media</a>.</p>
<p>
Editor in chief Cindi Leive&nbsp;<a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/press/glamour-bazaar-unveil-spring-makeovers-137944">overhauled <em>Glamour</em>&#39;s editorial content and design</a> in March, and the magazine is now extending that message to the ad community with a new brand campaign it&rsquo;s calling Generation Glamour.</p>
<p>
<em>Glamour</em>, long referred to as Cond&eacute; Nast&rsquo;s cash cow, is one of the industry&rsquo;s biggest titles with a circulation of 2.5 million, and as such is closely watched as a barometer of industry health. Ad pages declined 3 percent in the first half of the year, but that was against an overall industry slide of 9 percent. Its all-important September issue was down 16 percent in ad pages year over year, albeit versus a record-breaking 2011. Bill Wackermann, evp and publishing director at Cond&eacute; Nast, with responsibility for <em>Glamour</em>, said the last three issues of the year would each be up compared with a year ago.</p>
<p>
The brand campaign effort will kick off Aug. 13 with what <em>Glamour</em> is calling an &ldquo;upfront,&rdquo; styled after the TV industry preview of upcoming shows to advertisers. In this case, the programming content will be research <em>Glamour</em> has done on millennials.</p>
<p>
The event will include a panel with representatives of Mashable and online financial company LearnVest (underscoring <em>Glamour</em>&rsquo;s digital savvy) as well as Ogilvy and others. The campaign will culminate in a live event in October featuring up-and-coming celebrities who are deemed to be popular with millennials.</p>
<p>
Most notable, the campaign&rsquo;s visuals, rolling out in September, will spotlight not models but everyday women, using photos uploaded by consumers&mdash;all meant to put the magazine&rsquo;s target audience front and center.</p>
<p>
Wackermann said the campaign is all about capturing the voice of the young female consumer.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We did a ton of research into the millennials when we did the rebranding of <em>Glamour</em> in March,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Why is everyone changing their nails? It&rsquo;s about self-expression. Today, whether it&rsquo;s Rihanna or Lady Gaga, women are interested in constant change, constant expression.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
That woman also apparently is as willing to shop at Target as she is at Nordstrom, with all its implications for potential <em>Glamour</em> advertisers.</p>
<p>
<em>Glamour</em> also found millennials also are differentiated by their attitude. &ldquo;She has a voice that&rsquo;s very distinct; it&rsquo;s a voice that&rsquo;s almost entitlement,&rdquo; Wackermann said. &ldquo;She expects it&rsquo;s going to work out even though she has less money in the bank than her parents did.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
But enough, Wackermann likely hopes, for a subscription to <em>Glamour</em>.<br />
&nbsp;</p>
Advertising & BrandingThe PressAd SalesDigitalMagazinesMarketingLucia MosesOnlinePrintResearchMagazineTue, 07 Aug 2012 01:23:25 +0000142565 at http://www.adweek.comGoogle to Announce Ad Exchange Direct Deals Marketplace in Aprilhttp://www.adweek.com/news/technology/google-announce-ad-exchange-direct-deals-marketplace-april-138590
Tim Peterson<p>
Google will announce in April an ad exchange direct deals marketplace, the company&rsquo;s vp of new products and solutions Karim Temsamani said today during the Interactive Advertising Bureau&rsquo;s Annual Leadership Meeting in Miami.</p>
<p>
The marketplace will be &ldquo;an interface for publishers and buyers to solicit, negotiate and execute fixed-price, fixed-inventory&hellip;deals at scale,&rdquo; Temsamani said.</p>
<p>
Google rolled out ad exchange direct deals last September, but the product was in beta with publishers such as <em>The Washington Post</em> and About.com participating.</p>
<p>
Additionally, Google has created a marketplace development group to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers. Temsamani said the group stems from <a href="/node/132487">last year&#39;s acquisition</a> of Admeld. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first of many synergies you&rsquo;ll see from this acquisition,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
Temsamani also said that Google launched GoMo for Publishers, which will be similar to the original GoMo that launched last November for business sites. The product lets publishers test their mobile site performance and delivers a personalized report with recommended actions the publisher should take to better optimize their mobile sites. GoMo for Publishers also directs publishers to vendors they can work with on their sites.&nbsp;</p>
TechnologyAd ExchangesAd SalesDisplay advertisingGoogleGoogleTim PetersonMon, 27 Feb 2012 22:59:44 +0000138590 at http://www.adweek.comNascar to Take Digital Platforms Back From Turner Sports http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/nascar-take-digital-platforms-back-turner-sports-137867
Tim Peterson<p>
Nascar has asked Turner Sports for the keys to Nascar.com and is now looking for a digital agency to help navigate a site relaunch.</p>
<p>
In an agreement announced Monday, Nascar will assume control of its digital and social media platforms&mdash;including Nascar.com as well as the racing body&rsquo;s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts; mobile and tablet apps; and connected device apps&mdash;in 2013. The site relaunch is planned for Jan. 1, 2013, but Nascar did not issue a formal RFP for the work, said Marc Jenkins, vp of digital media at Nascar.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve built a bunch of relationships as we&rsquo;ve looked in this digital space over the last year-plus. So I think we&rsquo;ve got a sense of what we&rsquo;re looking for [in an agency], and hopefully within the next month-plus we&rsquo;ll be ready to make a good announcement in that space,&rdquo; Jenkins said.</p>
<p>
Turner Sports, which has managed Nascar&rsquo;s digital properties since 2001, will continue to handle digital ad sales for Nascar through 2016, extending the previous agreement by two years.</p>
<p>
Last year Nascar Media Group hired SapientNitro as a media consultant to advise on advertising trends. Jenkins said the digital agency is among the shops in the running for the Nascar.com work.</p>
<p>
Jenkins declined to discuss in detail what the new Nascar.com would entail but said that Nascar has been considering taking control of its digital platform from Turner Sports since the companies renewed their agreement in 2008.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It just has become too important for us not to control this direct communication channel to our fans,&rdquo; said Jenkins.</p>
<p>
Turner Sports maintains operational oversight and handles ad sales for NBA Digital, PGA.com and NCAA.com, said Sal Petruzzi, svp of communications at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Comprising NBA Digital is NBA.com, NBA TV, NBA League Pass, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time mobile app, NBA.com/dleague and WNBA.com.</p>
Advertising & BrandingAd Salesdigital advertisingNascarSapientNitroTurner Broadcasting System, Inc.Tim PetersonSportsMon, 30 Jan 2012 22:00:00 +0000137867 at http://www.adweek.comBlustery With a Chance of Down Parkashttp://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/blustery-chance-down-parkas-137384
D.M. Levine<img src="http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/tt-paul-walsh-weather-2011.jpg"> <p>
Six months ago, The Weather Channel hired a meteorology whiz. Only this one won&rsquo;t be doing the five-day forecast in front of a green screen.</p>
<p>
Paul Walsh, a former meteorologist with the U.S. Air Force who spent a little more than a decade in the private sector helping companies predict how weather patterns might affect their businesses, was tapped as the cable network&rsquo;s vp of weather analytics. In the newly created role, Walsh will head up a nascent initiative to sell highly targeted weather predictions to the channel&rsquo;s advertisers.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re using Walsh&rsquo;s background and data brain to figure out how to bring something to market that would be extremely useful to clients,&rdquo; said Beth Lawrence, The Weather Channel&rsquo;s evp of ad sales.</p>
<p>
For instance, if it&rsquo;s set to be unusually cold in Phoenix next week, The Weather Channel could use Walsh&rsquo;s predictions to tell sweater makers when to start advertising.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We have to figure out how to put a red bow on [Walsh&rsquo;s predictions] and go to the market and say, &lsquo;You should use this information because it could help move inventory,&rsquo;&rdquo; Lawrence said.</p>
<p>
Though the service was conceived several months ago, The Weather Channel only started pitching it in earnest last week. So far, just one client, a large retail chain (which the channel declined to identify), has signed on for a test. Lawrence aims for the service, tentatively dubbed Weather on Demand, to be fully operational by the second quarter.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;All weather, like politics, is truly local,&rdquo; said Walsh. &ldquo;Understanding what kind of retail behavior the weather is influencing gives us the ability to help our advertisers deliver the precise, right message at the precise, right location.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
If the service sounds far afield of the traditional role of a cable channel, it&rsquo;s a point Lawrence seems to embrace. &ldquo;It puts us in a consulting role,&rdquo; she said. Yet, in a world in which the weather has become big business, it could prove a sunny prospect for the channel.</p>
<p>
Some in the ad world are already taking notice.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Weather-triggered media is nothing new; we&rsquo;ve bought it before,&rdquo; said Barry Lowenthal, president of media agency The Media Kitchen. &ldquo;But usually, that advertising is done on a daily basis. So the idea that we&rsquo;d have more time to plan and adjust inventory accordingly could be a nice opportunity.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Should advertisers start making use of the service, look for other weather-prognosticating media to follow suit.</p>
Advertising & BrandingAd SalesCable TVDataDigitalMarketingD.M. LevineRetailThe Weather ChannelRetailWed, 11 Jan 2012 12:51:55 +0000137384 at http://www.adweek.com